


We Read A Book And Now We're In A Wasteland

by Fun_Yunn



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom
Genre: AU, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Deity Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), M/M, Multi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29002146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fun_Yunn/pseuds/Fun_Yunn
Summary: Three letters and a period: Fin. That's all it takes for Karl to time travel. Plus a whole story behind that, of course. But, as any of these stories go, his fiances manage to find a story, read it until the finish, and time travel. Karl could easily time travel them back, right? Well, if we're to make a story interesting it's never that easy...
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Clay | Dream/Floris | Fundy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a really short beginning but DON'T WORRY IT'LL GET LONGER
> 
> I also made this before Karl confirmed to be a time traveler, so the way he time travels is kinda weird
> 
> The "Original Characters" aren't exactly original, they're just Dream SMP members with different names and outfits, but wHaTeVeR

Sapnap found the book hidden underneath a floorboard after tripping and falling flat on his face. Karl never hid anything from him, or even went as far as lying, so this was a huge surprise to him. He picked up the book and placed the floorboard back into its spot, heading back to Quackity, who was laying on the floor making carpet-angels.

“Hey, Quack, look at this,” he says, sitting down next to him. Quackity moves his head over, sitting up into a criss-cross applesauce position. “What is that?” he asks. “I’m not sure,” Sapnap replies in a hushed tone, like he was to be caught, “but it was underneath the floor. It’s like… a really old book…”

The book itself was leather-bound along with golden rings with plenty of scratches, dents, and stitches to accompany and it seemed as though it was from medieval times. With it were two rather expensive-looking pens—one feather and the other fountain. He opened the book, starting at a random page. There were colored tabs made up of cut up sticky-notes and paint chips, and many stickers, rips, sketches, smudges, and, most importantly, notes filled in either paragraphs or single lines. Many sketches showed human-like figures, while others showed machines. Some even showed mystical animals and beasts from who-knows-where.

This was certainly odd—was this book in the 80s or _1780s?_ Or even the 4080s?

Sapnap skipped to a tab that was labeled “Dream Species?” and read through. All throughout the pages were sketches of people who looked like Dream. Some were highlighted red, others white. He skipped through again, this time to “Stories.” On these pages, short stories were spread out between them. Sapnap browsed through one called “The Town That Never Was,” then he looked at another: “The Village That Went Mad.”

He stopped reading, looking over to Quackity, who shared the same shock. “What is this…?” Quackity inquired softly in disbelief, going back to the book. Sapnap shrugged and stuttered, “I—I don’t know—is Karl some sort of…” They both looked at each other and gave a quiet gasp.

“Time-traveler?”

There was a pregnant pause, of one waiting for the other to say something. Finally, Sapnap starts, “Maybe we should read a story—it looks… interesting?” Quackity responds with a comically-loud gulp. “Yeah. Yeah, okay,” he nods slowly, a frown tugging at his lips, something that doesn’t usually happen. Sapnap started to read a story, blindly following the peculiarly neat cursive. As he went deeper into the story, the two got into it more—invested by the clever characters and many twists and turns—too much so that they never realized the faint glow behind the letters, and then the soft humming around them. And once Sapnap read that last word—

_Whoosh._

%%%

Karl entered the house, a highlighter pack in hand. He went into the living room, where he last saw his fiancés. He dropped the pack as soon as he saw the mess—carefully blown in a circle. His mouth widened as he saw the book in the middle. They had found his book and read a whole story. He started panicking, he was never taught how to save others like this. He entered his kitchen, swiftly opening up a floorboard and taking out another book, this time a manual. And flipping through it rapidly.

It didn’t help him at all.

He ran over to his living room again, groaning out in frustration He didn’t even know which one they read. He snatched the book, messily heading over to the stories tab and going through. He had too many unfinished stories.

Ah, there it was—one story still had a glow to it. He had read it slow—too fast would cause the portal to glitch and freak out. It happened one time and he did _not_ like how it turned out. It felt like forever to finish the story, but once it did, he was sure not to let go of the book and pens, and…

_Zap._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quackity and Sapnap find themselves in a total wasteland, and meet some interesting characters.

He looked around—that weird explosion was a bit too harsh for his liking. He rubbed his head, searching the area. “Sapna—”

“Shh!” a young British voice says with urgency, grabbing him from behind. He struggles a bit, muffling something. The body lets go, adding a “What?”

“I said what’s the big deal?” he responds angrily, moving away and turning towards the person who put his filthy hands on his mouth. Thinking about that, he moves his arm to his lips, wiping in disgust. He looks back up, finally getting a good look. He froze in shock. It was Tommy, except dressed in all black with a ninja-like mask with extra flare at the bottom tips. He sort of looked like a raccoon. “Tommy…?” he cocked his head.

“What? No, my name’s Timothy, Moth for short, lucky guess though—what’s yours?”

“Uh, Quackity—”

“Great, okay, follow me Quackity,” Moth says, grabbing his hand. “Wait! Where’s Sapnap?” Moth, although his face was limited, looked annoyed. “Your friend? The one with the white shirt and black hair?” he asks, motioning with his hands. Quackity nods. “He’s with the others, don’t worry. Now follow me before we get caught.” Quackity’s hair stands on end, and he resisted the urge to yell. “Get caught?” he inquired in a hushed tone, frowning. “Stop talking, his guards will find you. Stay low and don’t talk.”

He couldn’t believe he was listening to a child.

%%%

The place Moth took him to was underground, almost to bedrock level. Water from the wall was dripping into a bucket, and rocks fell time after time from every angle. The room Moth led him into was what he guessed was the meeting room. There were a few recognizable people dressed in either all black or a saturated color, but out of them was Sapnap. Quackity immediately rushed over to him, fumbling with his hand to grip Sapnap’s. (A bit too tight for his liking, but he didn’t complain.)

The other people, the ones he didn’t really care for, looked like Wilbur, Tubbo, Antfrost, and Schlatt. Quackity squinted at the latter for a long time. The Wilbur look-alike started speaking, “Moth, why the  _ fuck  _ would you give us more people? We can’t even feed 3 people, let alone 6!” he hit the stone table with his fist. Quackity looked around with a confused look—there were 5 people, not 6. Moth was as red as a tomato and complained, “Well, I’m  _ sorry,  _ Boar—they just  _ appeared  _ out of nowhere when I was hunting!”

A Dream look-alike emerged from the shadows, something Quackity and Sapnap weren’t expecting. He wore a cloak that covered his head and left his face in darkness. “I say let them rot with the vultures. Better off without them,” he says with a dark and ominous tone, straight out of some sort of cartoon. “And I completely agree, Storm,” Boar nods, “the vultures would like them better than us.”

“But let’s think like Nina—she wouldn’t want us to just… let innocent people go. She wouldn’t let that happen,” the Antfrost look-alike stated, playing with his off-white jacket, which was way too big for him. Boar lets out a frustrating sigh, shaking his head. The Schlatt look-alike crosses his arms, “Yet Nina was the one who sacrificed herself stupidly by going outside to help Moth.”

“Not  _ stupidly,  _ Stone, and Moth helps us significantly. Don’t talk like that ever again or you’ll have the same fate as her!” Boar hisses. Schlatt raises his hands slightly in defense, adding a “Jeez, sorry.” Boar snaps his head over to the Antfrost look-alike. “And Beetle—don’t bring up Nina in conversations ever again in conversations like these. You know that messes me up.”

“Sorry,” Beetle meekly says.

There’s an awkward pause before the Tubbo look-alike raises his hands, bopping up and down. Boar mutters something under his breath, then lamentably says, “Yes, Tub-Tub…”

“Can we keep them? Please? Can they be my pets? I’ll feed them, I promise!” Tub-Tub says with a giddy look. “No, Tub. Not right now. We need to figure out what to do with them first,” Boar sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Aw… okay…”

There was a moment of silence before Storm perks his head, “Maybe give them some sort of test. See if they’re good for us.” Boar nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea, Storm. Then maybe Tub-Tub can keep them as pets.” Tub-Tub smiles widely, pumping his fist in the air. “So, what should we make them do?” Moth asks. “Hm… we  _ could  _ just send them to the castle like we did with Moth…” Boar thinks.

“And almost kill them? Yeah, they don’t look ready for that,” Stone flatly replies with a monotone chuckle.

“If I can interrupt,” Quackity starts, all eyes flying towards him, “who exactly owns the castle? And how buff exactly are these guards?”

They looked at him as if he were crazy—which could be the reasoning, as Tub-Tub mumbled a “Crazy!” Boar shushed the rest, shaking his head slightly and turning back to Quackity. “I told you, they just appeared,” Moth adds quietly, getting a glare from Boar.

“Well, since you apparently don’t know what  _ happened,  _ it’s my priority to get you caught up, hm?” Boar smiles a smile that places Quackity and Sapnap off edge. “The King—we don’t speak of his real name—he started off as a humble, innocent citizen much like… eh… Tub-Tub over here,” he points at Tub-Tub.

“I’m not innocent!” Tub-Tub giggles.

“Right, well, when we got into a war with another country he was given the choice between helping his fellow citizens or becoming king. That doesn’t sound bad until you realize the choice was given by somebody on the other side. Then he became king, and the other side won and left our city to eventually rot. That’s the big castle. And his guards are  _ very  _ strong. He’s tamed multiple wither skeletons and iron golems, and don’t get me started on the blazes and ghasts. But yeah, that’s basically it.”

Sapnap and Quackity stare at Boar for a moment, before Sapnap leaned over, “Sounds kinda like Eret.” Quackity nods slowly in agreement, still not letting go of Sapnap’s hand. “All right—I’ve decided. You two can go scrounge around up top with… eh, Beetle and Moth, see what you can do. If they get hurt, leave them in the dust, they’re not useful,” Boar says, pointing over to Moth.

Moth and Beetle give up a salute, and Beetle puts a hand on both Quackity and Sapnap’s shoulders, signaling them to follow. They share a glance of worry and bewilderment, not sure what to expect. Boar raises his hand, “And come back before the torches are off.”

%%%

Soon, they found themselves with a shield and sword up top of the ground, and looked around more now that they had the opportunity. Quackity couldn’t stop holding Sapnap’s hand, taking every moment to grab it. Moth laid out a map, presumably of the land, and studied it for a while. Beetle was lookout (he  _ was  _ a cat after all), and Sapnap was self-declared warrior. Moth was always the quiet thief, and Quackity decided to steal alongside him.

“The only food out here is in the castle or, if we’re lucky, some shop. Weapons can be found anywhere, I’ll go ahead, you stay here with Beetle and when I give the signal you can come,” Moth explains, switching eyes to both Quackity and Sapnap, who nod. Moth nods back and silently moves out, maneuvering through the wasteland.

“And there he goes…” Sapnap whispers, furrowing his eyebrows. Quackity grunts to let him know he heard, rubbing his hand.

“Hey, question,” Beetle says from his outpost, not budging at all to look at them, “are you two… together?”

“Yes,” Sapnap confirms.

Beetle’s ears drop a bit, sadness in his eyes. “I remember my partner. He was a good man. Didn’t deserve that iron golem.”

Quackity grimaced, squinting at the floor. Sapnap sighed, looking around for nothing in particular.

Then a shuffle occurs, and Beetle immediately jumps down from his post to check it out. His ears twitch and his body is low to the ground, tail whooshing through the air ready to strike.

Moth jumps out, one arm occupying an iron sword and the other…

“Karl?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the names are too hard to follow, let me know! I tried to make them as close to the original members' as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fiancés reunite, they get the chance to talk about Karl's ability...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is REALLY short X(
> 
> I promise the next one will be longer AND have FundyWasTaken!!

Moth held Karl by the throat, tightening his grip with each squirm. Beetle immediately understood what was happening and laid down his weapon, eyes wide, wondering what was next. Quackity and Sapnap, however, definitely didn’t react the same, since a _child_ was using all his brute force against their fiancé.

“Dude! Let go!” Quackity spoke, eyes practically on fire. “What? Why? And he attacked me first, just to let you know. Boar isn’t gonna like having _another_ person, so might as well just get rid of some dead weight, am I right?” Moth inquired; a grin was spreading itself across his face. “That’s our fucking fiancé you’re choking!” Sapnap says, voice reaching a yell.

“Oh—shit, sorry,” Moth squeaks, letting go of Karl straight away. Karl dropped to his knees, coughing. Moth squinted at him, “At least quiet down your coughs, man.” Beetle gives him an elbow on his side, to which he replies with “Yep, I deserved that.” Quackity and Sapnap rush over to Karl, making sure if he’s okay. Karl slowly stands up with the help of the two and sighs. “Well, he starts, his voice scratchy, “thank you for the warm welcoming.” But Sapnap isn’t buying it. “Karl, what the _heck_ is that book? What did it do? Why do you have it?”

Karl groans a bit, fidgeting with his fountain pen. “It’s kinda complicated… let’s just say I know how this story works and I know how it ends, we need to get to the underground base,” he says, quickly heading towards the base. But he hears a _click!_ and turns around slowly, looking unamused. “What do you mean by _‘story’?_ And how does it end…?” Moth asks, holding up a crossbow.

Karl sighs. There’s no escaping this… he made a sour face, “It’s better if you don’t understand. It’d break all time and space as we know it. If I tell you too much we’re both basically dead.”

Moth scrunches up his nose, “What a terribly specifically vague answer.” He brought his crossbow down, deciding not to push it, looking over to Beetle in confusion. “Don’t look at me. Let’s just bring him to Boar.”

“Unless he just sends us out again, same procedure… we might as well just get this over with, right?”

“No—” Karl almost trips. Sapnap was quick to react and helped him back up. “No,” he repeats after gaining his balance. “I know how this works, we need to go back to the base. And I’d tell you why if it weren't for weird timeline paradox rules. So we need to go. Now.” Karl sighs as he puts his book and pens in his inventory, rubbing a spot on his neck. Quackity reaches out for his hand as he walks by, and Sapnap quickly accompanies. The three look back to Moth and Beetle, who share a concerned look. Moth groans and puts his crossbow back into his inventory, going along with the three. Beetle rolls his eyes and climbs up top a building and follows them from up there.

This was going to be _fun_ to explain to Boar… 

%%%

Boar was practically abusing the table at this point, as well as his lungs. Stone got tired of the yelling and went elsewhere, and Tub-Tub escorted himself out of the room. Quackity would have thought that Storm was asleep if it weren’t for the way he was humming softly. Moth grimaced whenever Boar licked his lips then continued yelling; “You don’t have to spit it at me, pal,” he’d say. Of course, this only got him more riled up, and the process would continue. It came to a point that Sapnap had fainted out of tiredness—getting the not-so-greatest responses. He was right next to Quackity, and of course he had thought he’d died.

“Guys! Sapnap just—he just fucking died! Shut up!” Quackity yelled.

“Wha—what the honk happened?” Karl asked, putting a hand on Sapnap’s back. Boar sighed and crossed his arms, “He fell asleep. I think we all should do the same and deal with this tomorrow.”  
  
“You’ve been _‘dealing’_ with this for around an hour, Boar. Maybe you should listen to the guy?” Moth suggests, looking over to Karl, who carries Sapnap in his arms. Beetle nods, tail flickering back and forth. Boar sighs, shaking his head. “If they can go into the castle and get out successfully... maybe I’ll think about it. Plus, Karl says he’s dealt with worse, so we’ll just see about that…”

Moth frowns, thoughts racing through his head. He walked over to the fiancés, who have tiredness splashed across their faces. “I’ll bring you guys to your… rooms?”

“One room, thanks,” Karl says. “Okay, good, we do _not_ have enough rooms for the three of you. Follow me.” Moth guides them through the underground base, which is practically a maze considering how many sharp turns they’ve been taking. They finally reach the room hallway, and he shows them a room. “This used to be Nina’s, but after… certain consequences… it’s yours now, is all I’m trying to say. Don’t have sex or some shit. Goodnight.” Quackity huffs with laughter as Moth walks away to his room, which is labelled in sharpie: **“DON’T COME IN** **”** with a tinier text reading: **“i’ve come in.”**

Karl mutters something under his breath, placing Sapnap on the bed. He notices that the bed is too small for three people, and squints out of anger. “The bed’s too small,” he says. Quackity grumbles, rubbing his eyes. “I never even realized I was this tired, dude…” he plops himself onto the bed, looking at Karl expectantly. Karl laughs, shaking his head. “Nah, you know how Sapnap sprawls himself everywhere. I’ll sleep on this… um…” he looked around, expecting a chair of some sort. “Oh…”

Quackity snickers as he lays down close to Sapnap, leaving the tiniest bit of space for Karl, who groans lightheartedly. He struggles to get into the bed, and it takes more time for the two of them to get comfortable, especially with the worn out sheets. Finally, the two get into a comfortable spot, with the two of them stretched out and intertwined with each other. Yet, as soon as the position is completed, Karl says, voice barely above a whisper, “I’m hot…” Quackity joked and said “Heck yeah you are,” but it turned out that he was serious and they moved around once more. Unfortunately, they woke up Sapnap, and the three of them laid on the bed: awake, a mess, confused, and tired.

“Karl…” Sapnap starts, voice rickety like a ship in the sea. Karl hums, looking over to his direction. “Will you tell us about the whole… book thing? And… how is this the story me and Quack read?”

Karl sighs, closing his eyes. He knew he couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. “Okay… it may sound… _weird_ at first but… bear with me. When I was younger, there was a dreamon, and he… it overtook everybody. So… I found a book, with a pocket watch inside, and any time I time travel, I write my stories. When I come back and write my experiences, I can read them over and go and do the same thing, essentially.”

“Wait, so… you can just change one story over and over again?” Quackity inquired.

“Yeah. And—here’s the thing—I _have_ to write ‘Fin.’ at the end of them. It… officiates the story, I guess. But… back to the dreamon—it was so powerful that I _had_ to go back in time and just fix everything. Then I figured out that _our_ SMP has the _son_ of that dreamon. It might just grow up to be more powerful, so I need to act quickly.”

“What… what happens if you’re successful...?” Sapnap asks, worry conquering him. He plays with Quackity's hand as Karl struggles to find an answer.

“Well.. that’s why I wanted a poly relationship… if I _do_ succeed…”

The three don’t talk for a while after that, and once Quackity falls asleep (glued onto Karl, for that matter), Karl and Sapnap decide to sleep as well.

Karl couldn’t say he wasn’t scared.


End file.
